A-Train is coming to Brooklyn tomorrow?
Lucas stared at the news on his phone, his mind racing.
The community run event is, frankly, just a PR stunt organized by Vought International.
A-Train runs along a set route, with cheering crowds lining both sides, drones following to film, live broadcasts, and after he finishes, he signs autographs and takes photos, which boosts his popularity.
A perfect offline interaction.
But in the original story, it was around one of these public events that A-Train took an overdose of Compound V, sprinted at full speed through the streets, and ended up turning Hughie’s girlfriend into a bloody mist.
He opened the news details, and the event route map had been released.
The starting point is Brooklyn Bridge Park, running all the way along Atlantic Avenue to Prospect Park, a total distance of about six kilometers.
And Hughie’s electronics store is right next to Atlantic Avenue.
It looks like it’s tomorrow!
Current Evolution Points: 6,217 / 10,000
Lucas brought up his panel.
The speed of collecting Evolution Points online is getting faster and faster.
Mainstream media is pushing the name "Guardian" to the masses.
However, before that, it would be best to get an upgrade.
With his current strength, intercepting A-Train is still not very reliable.
The kinetic energy of A-Train sprinting at full speed is terrifying; if he intercepts him the wrong way, he could end up killing everyone nearby from the Shockwave.
If Hughie meets his end, it would indeed change the fate of a key character.
But whether the system would grant a reward is another matter entirely.
With four thousand Evolution Points left, relying solely on passive online collection is too slow!
He has to take the initiative.
Lucas scanned the streets of Brooklyn; there was much less superpower-related crime during the day, unlike last night when it was rampant everywhere.
It seems that after he cleared out a wave, many criminals didn’t dare to show their faces.
But he had a better idea.
The stream of that black kid from last night already had over one hundred thousand followers, and it was still growing.
The most common comment in the section was, "When will Guardian appear?"
Lucas found an empty alley, took off his hoodie, and revealed the cheap store-bought clothes he was wearing underneath.
He ascended directly from the alley, shooting up into the Brooklyn skyline.
It was broad daylight, and the sun was bright.
A figure hovered thirty stories high in the sky, casting a shadow on the streets below.
A very high-profile entrance.
"Look! It’s Guardian!"
"He’s appeared again!"
"Quick, film it, film it!"
Lucas didn’t rush to fly away.
He deliberately hovered in the air for a dozen seconds, allowing enough people to film him.
Then he showed off a full-speed sprint, pushing straight to the limit of subsonic speed.
An afterimage pierced through the sky above Brooklyn; while he wasn’t fast enough to create a sonic boom during the flight, the wake left by the airflow was clearly visible in the sunlight, like a white ribbon hanging in the sky.
The streets below erupted in exclamations.
Phone videos were being uploaded frantically.
Twitter, Instagram, You Tube... the hashtag #TheGuardianAppearsDuringDaytime surged onto the trending list within ten minutes.
The numbers on his panel started jumping wildly.
+87, +134, +56, +203, +91, +167, +78, +245...
Lucas curled his lips.
Traffic is something that requires constant exposure.
He couldn’t stop; if he stopped, he’d be finished.
He flew two laps over Brooklyn, ensuring people could get clear shots from every angle, then dove into another street.
Just in time.
He heard a commotion.
A residential building was emitting thick smoke, with tongues of fire shooting out from a fifth-floor window.
The fire trucks were still on the way, and a large crowd had gathered downstairs, with some people screaming.
"There’s still someone inside who hasn’t escaped!"
A woman was lying on the fifth-floor windowsill, clutching a child, with thick smoke pouring out from behind her.
This scene was absolutely perfect!
Saving someone in full view of everyone was the most efficient way to collect emotions.
Lucas dove straight over from the air.
The wind whistled.
The crowd below was startled by the sound of him breaking the air, and then they clearly saw the figure.
"It’s Guardian!"
Lucas reached the fifth-floor window in three seconds.
A wave of heat hit him, the temperature was extremely high, but his Bio-field insulated the heat from his skin, and he didn’t even break a sweat.
"Give me the child."
The woman was already terrified, clinging tightly to the child with a vacant look in her eyes.
Lucas didn’t have time to wait for her to react; he wrapped one arm around her waist and used the other to protect the child, flying out of the window with both of them.
Three seconds later, they landed steadily downstairs.
The woman collapsed to the ground as soon as she landed.
The child in her arms was about three or four years old, face covered in soot, but fortunately uninjured, and was staring blankly at Lucas.
Then, the child reached out a soot-covered little hand and touched Lucas’s face.
Click! Click!
Camera flashes went off, freezing that moment in time.
The reporter’s eyes were filled with fanaticism, constantly searching for the right angle.
This silhouette, this lighting, this composition, the significance of this scene... I’m fucking going to win a Pulitzer Prize!
Seeing this scene, the surrounding crowd completely erupted.
Lucas stood in the center of the crowd, the numbers on his panel scrolling like a floodgate had been opened.
+346, +512, +287, +198, +423, +156, +378, +267, +445...
Total this time: +4,127
He was stunned for a moment.
Over four thousand? Over four thousand in one go?
I worked all night last night, and it didn’t give me as much as this one moment!
Current Evolution Points: 10,344 / 10,000
The panel shook violently, and a few golden characters appeared.
[Evolution Points full! Bloodline upgrade conditions met!]
[Immediately upgrade to Lv.2: Viltrumite Soldier?]
[Warning: The upgrade process will last about 30 seconds, during which the body may release energy fluctuations.]
Lucas looked around.
This place won’t do.
He nodded to the crowd as a farewell, then tapped his toes on the ground and shot straight into the sky.
Speed maxed out.
Ten seconds later, he had arrived above an abandoned industrial zone.
Below were desolate factory buildings and an empty parking lot, with not a soul around.
Lucas hovered in mid-air and took a deep breath.
"Upgrade."
The next moment.
An unprecedented power erupted from deep within his bone marrow.
Every one of his muscle fibers was restructuring, his bones were becoming denser, and inside his body, it felt like a star was slowly igniting.
The expanding heat spread from his core to his limbs and bones.
Lucas’s Bio-field suddenly expanded, and shimmering ripples radiated from his skin wave after wave, just like the surface of water when a stone is thrown into it.
He stood in mid-air, the air beneath his feet pushed away by the force field, forming a visible spherical Shockwave.
Dust on the ground immediately kicked up.
The transformation process lasted a full half-minute before slowly settling down.
Lucas looked down at his hands.
There wasn’t much change from before, but he could feel that every breath he took and every slight movement was completely different from before.
The actual change — worlds apart!
He clenched his fist tightly.
The air let out a "pop" sound.
This was a display of pure strength; just that act of clenching his fist had created a miniature sonic boom around it.
What does it mean to create a sonic boom?
The panel refreshed and popped up new information.
[Bloodline upgrade complete]
Bloodline Level: Viltrumite Soldier
Strength: 62 tons
Speed: 1.8 times the speed of sound
Defense: Immune to heavy weapons, such as missiles
Flight: Supersonic
Space Survival: 2 hours
Bio-field: Intermediate
...
New skills unlocked: Viltrumite Battle Cry, Bloodline Perception
Battle Suit: Soldier’s Battle Suit - Unlocked (Can be summoned)
Evolution Points: 344 / 100,000 (Next Level: Lv.3 Elite Warrior)
Sixty-two tons.
Almost eight times what it was before.
Supersonic flight, and not even missiles can kill him.
Lucas slowly let out a breath, his lips curling into a grin.
And the Battle Suit is unlocked!
Strength is secondary; looking cool is eternal!
With a thought.
A layer of dark gray substance seeped out from his skin, spreading like liquid metal, covering his entire body in just two seconds.
It was a dark gray, skin-tight combat suit with a metallic sheen on the surface.
Right in the center of the chest was a winged "V" totem.
Dark gold, understated but very recognizable.
The design was simple and high-end, more than a few grades better than the cheap inner layer he had been wearing.
Lucas looked down and examined himself, nodding with satisfaction.